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IM AZ Race Report 2008 - Sang Yoon |
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Exactly 2 year ago, I met Tony at the Drayon center. I told him I
wanted to do an Ironman and he told me that he did it so I could do it
too. I didn't have a bike and I barely know how to swim.
So becoming an Ironman seemed like a dream. Very next day, I bought a
bike from Costco and trained for two weeks and I did a Possibilities
Sprint triathlon. That was my first triathlon and I was hooked. That
day I bought a bike from Tony. He had a black Felt tri bike. That was
my first tri bike. Of course I returned the other bike to Costco. I
love Costco. Two years later, my dream came true. How did I do it?
Very simple. I used Coach-Tony's Training plan. If I followed the
whole plan, I could have better time than what I did. I was so lazy
and I missed work-outs here and there. Swim was my weak point. So I
spent many many hours with Tony. He taught me how to swim and how to
swim effortless and effectively. And the result is very satisfied. My
goal was to finish the swim portion in one hour and 15 minutes. I made
it exactly one hour and 15 minutes.
I couldn't spend many hours on bike and run with Tony. That's why I struggled on bike and run portion. Needless to say, "More time with Tony, faster you can become an Ironman."
April 13, 2008 I was floating in the Tempe reservoir waiting for the gun goes off. As soon as I heard the gun went off, I started swimming. 2000 swimmers started at once. It was more than I expected. People were grabbing my ankle, pushing and kicking, punching and someone was trying to get on top of me. And the vision was zero, nada, 0, nothing. I couldn't see any thing in front of me because the Sun was directly in front of me. so I decided to follow someone and I kept the constant distance from the side wall so I could go straight. I was feeling good and I noticed I was passing lots of people. At the turn around I had to do another battle because all the swimmer got cramped on one spot.
After turn around point, things got better. I had a better view to finish line and I had more room to swim. After I turned around the last buoy, I started kicking my legs so I could get more blood flow on my legs. As soon as I hit the step, I was pulled by the volunteer and I was on
the land in a second. I have to tell you about the volunteers. They were so helpful and great.
They cheer you all the way and stayed with me all the time. Without them, I could've never done it. And my wetsuit was pulled in a split second by the volunteer. Before I got to changing tent I was handed my transition bag by the volunteer. They were on top of everything and they were everywhere. In the changing tent, I was about half naked and I heard someone
yelled " I love you, boys. Don't mind me." It was one of the female athlete who was confused and came into male tent and she seemed like she didn't even notice it until she was half
naked either. That was the funniest moment in the whole event.
After I changed I grabbed my bike and started running to start line. In a couple of minute after I started, I saw Tony was cheering for us. I really thank Tony that he stayed on the course for the whole day. The first loop was OK. Going up to turn around point was about 19miles with steady uphill. wind was blowing little bit. but it wasn't that bad. at least at that time. On the way down from the turn around, I had wind behind me and little of the down hill. I noticed my cadence was high but my legs felt ok. It seemed like my legs had so much energy. but I was wrong.
Right after I finished first loop, I felt my legs were getting tired.
I still had 80 miles to go. so I slowed my cadence down and took it easy. But wind picked up more. wind was blowing from everywhere except from behind. I managed to the turn around point at the my goal time. I took really easy on the way down. At the end of second loop, my time was 4:20. I was thinking, I should say I was dreaming, that I could finish the
bike in 6:30. I didn't know what was coming on the third loop. As soon as I started third loop, I had flat. I was so tired and it was so hot. I changed the tube and off to go. But things got worse.
Wind picked up so much it felt like I couldn't move forward unless I pedal. I could barely get 10 mph on the way up to the turn around point. On the mile 85, Sinta passed me. Right after Sinta passed me, I had another flat. I used my last tube and co2 and off to go. still going around 10 mph. I was thinking in few miles I could have little bit of the down hill and wind behind me. I was dreaming...
Couple of miles before turn around point, I had another flat. Three flats. what an unlucky day.
but I didn't have extra tube. I didn't know what to do. I started asking fellow athletes if they can spare me a tube and co2. Five minutes later, my life saver came from nowhere and dropped a tube and a co2. I thanked him and thanked him many many times but I didn't even asked his name nor bib number. God bless him... I lost almost 30 minutes from flats. I was going to speed up once I turned around the turn around point. But, it wasn't my day. Wind started blowing directly against me.
It was a down hill before, but not right now. I had to pedal so hard to move forward on the down hill. All the way down to finish line, I had to fight with wind and wind worn me out!!! Scary thing was I still have to run the full marathon. At the transition, people were running but I didn't care.
I was so tired and I walked to changing tent and I took time. Volunteer handed me a cup of ice water and I drank it and started running. First 3 miles was going well. But after that my legs said no, no mas. I couldn't run. I walked and ran and walked and ran. It took me 2 hours to finish the first loop.
It was going to take me 6 hours to finish the full marathon. That scared me. So sped up little bit.
Second loop felt a lot better. Actually I was able to run the whole second loop but still running slow. It took me 1 hour and 40 minutes. Third loop was different story. I had no energy.
Every mile, I had to drink Coke to stay up. Mile 25, I only had 1.2 mile to go. I started sprinting and I looked at my watch. It said 11 Min/mile. so depressing. I thought I was running fast.
Finish line was just around the corner. I put everything I had. And I crossed the finish line. I became an Ironman.
I can't express how I was feeling. Tony was at the finish line. I thanked him many many times.
If it wasn't him, I wouldn't be able to do this Ironman. 14:44:41 was my finish time. It took me too long. I'll have to spend more time with Tony to improve my time on the next Ironman.
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Last Updated ( Monday, 28 April 2008 )
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